Furry Husband and how I met him....

(this is us in France in 2006 - I think we were in Vezelay here...)

Oh! Fyyahchild gave me the same award that DebH did so THANK-YOU Fyyahchild! Go check her out!

On to my post.

Cheryl mentioned in comments about Furry and how we met in a sort of movie kinda way. Lemme see if I can capture it for you in a post. I think it is very kismet, luck, may not ever have been ... sort of meeting.

I had just broken up with this guy, Jim. He was a nice enough guy but he just really had no ambition or motivation and he was a jealous guy. I'd never dated a jealous type before...and it got old really fast to have to "check in" with him all the time because he'd be in a snit if I didn't or to have him stalk off in a huff if I so much as talked to another guy. Grow up already.

I was enjoying my freedom, rid of this guy and out having fun with my girlfriends. I lived up in Bailey CO - mountain town - and commuted to Denver every day for work. There isn't much to do in Bailey so I'd meet up with friends after work for a beer and social hour.

I met up with Kristi after work one day at the Wynkoop Brewery in downtown Denver. She wasn't there yet so I sat at the bar and waited for her to show up. I struck up friendly conversation with the bartenders to pass time and the bar wasn't all that busy. Kristi showed up and we headed upstairs to play pool. This is when I first met Furry Husband...

I had no idea...

I went back to work and decided to change things up... I cut my hair Annie Lennox short and I dyed it platinum blond. I don't know if blonds have more fun, tho' it WAS fun to change my look that much. Hair is hair and can always be changed, colored, cut or left to grow out. I was still the same ol' Shanster...

I met a girlfriend at the Wynkoop again. Only this was a weekend and I was... well... in a Shanster mood. I was loud and boisterous and having fun talkin' smack in the bar. I had on a short skirt and a low cut top cuz when you are young and have nice cleavage, you should use it to your advantage on occasion.

I struck up conversation with the bartenders again.... this time my girlfriend and I stayed at the bar downstairs chattin' it up. Furry Husband and I were bantering back and forth - quick witted and exchanging jokes and one liners. He remembered me even with my new Sharon Stone 'do'. I broke down and told him the dirtiest joke I know.

He gave me his business card, wrote on the back, "Free beer for life!" and told me to stop in next Friday around 5 when his early shift ended. I kept the card but didn't know if I'd stop in to see him or not. I just really didn't want to date anyone again so soon after Jim and ... shrug... I was having fun being single.

Next Friday rolled around and I didn't know what to do ... Should I really get involved with someone again? What if he is a player? On the other hand, it IS a free beer, I didn't know that many people in Denver and bartenders at busy places are always in the know and have lots of friends. Maybe we could just hang out together and he'd be a fun person to know and I could meet more people....

Since I wasn't all that invested in dating ... I took my own sweet time. I got to the Wynkoop a hour late. Rolling my eyes - oh, that was RUDE! I know, I know... I just wasn't into dating and didn't want our meeting to seem very "date like".

If you've ever been in downtown Denver, there are a gazillion parking lots and meters to park your car. There is a parking garage directly across from the Wynkoop. I always parked in the parking garage because it was close.

Furry Husband DETESTED that parking garage. He NEVER parked there.

He'd park in one of many outdoor lots because the attendees let him park for free and would come in for a free beer at the end of their shift. I scratch your back, you scratch mine sort of arrangement.

The parking garage employees never went for that arrangement and always made him pay. So he never parked there. He would park in one of the other lots or if he was lucky, he'd park at a meter and run out every 2 hrs to plug it with change.

The night I was supposed to meet him, I pulled into the parking garage as I always did. There was a booth with an attendant and as I was accepting the ticket to put on my dash from her, I noticed a car on the other side of the booth waiting to pay...

I asked the girl working the booth, "Hey, could you ask that car on the other side if his name is Furry?"

She looked a little taken aback but she was game and asked ....
"Yes, he says it's him..."

"Would you tell him that Shanster is on the other side?"

She let Furry Husband reverse his car back into the garage, she looked at me and said, "Oh! He loves you!'

I blushed wildly and nervously laughed it off. What did she know? I drove into the garage, parked next to Furry, apologized for being late, we went inside and the rest is history.

What if he hadn't parked in the garage that day? He NEVER parked there any other day... What if I had been another 10 minutes late? What if he hadn't hung out with friends and waited on my sorry ass?

He would have gone home and I woulda missed him. I think things would have stopped in their tracks, I would have been embarrassed for being that rude and he would probably not have asked to meet up with me again.